Conte indicated Monday that his new government plans to tweak migrant policy but gave no specifics.

The League was a partner in the previous government, which Salvini brought down by withdrawing and trying to force an early election that could make him premier.

The firebrand nationalist leader joined protesters outside Parliament on Monday and said citizens were clamoring for their say at the ballot box.

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11:30 a.m.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte is pitching for support in Parliament for his new left-leaning coalition ahead of crucial confidence votes.

The lower Chamber of Deputies, where the government has a comfortable majority, is set to vote Monday evening. Conte's fortunes are dicier in the Senate, where a coalition of the populist 5-Star Movement and center-left Democrats holds a much-slimmer margin in Tuesday's vote.

Matteo Salvini's anti-migrant League and a smaller far-right party were protesting outside Parliament.

If Conte's government loses either vote, it must resign.

His first government collapsed after 14 months when Salvini withdrew his right-wing forces' support. Salvini was hoping the move would trigger new elections that would give him the premiership. But the 5-Stars and Democrats set aside bitter rivalry to form an alternative coalition.